Export Office 365 Archive Mailbox to PST – Easy Methods

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  • Published on March 11th, 2025

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With time, Office 365 Archive Mailbox can reach its maximum storage limit, leading to performance issues. Therefore, the users export Office 365 archive mailbox to PST to resolve this issue. This ensures the accessibility of important data while reducing storage space. This can be done either by using a manual approach (eDiscovery Tool and Outlook) or with the help of an expert recommended tool, Export Office 365 to PST Tool. Go through this blog from start to finish to understand why and how we can make this process effortless.

An Archive Mailbox is an additional storage space that allows users to store and manage older emails separately from their original mailbox. A PST (Personal Storage Table) file is a file format used to store and backup Outlook emails and mailbox data on a local computer. When users want to store or backup their archive mailbox, they export it to PST.

Why do we Need to Export Archive Mailbox to PST from Office 365?

Organisations improve email retention, backup and compliance by exporting Office 365 archive mailbox to PST. Here’s why one should consider this:

  • Protects the archived emails by creating a local backup and prevents data loss.
  • Useful when we transfer emails between different email services.
  • Exporting archived mailbox to PST ensures that your data is accessible during legal audits or investigative purposes.
  • Moving archived mailbox to PST helps prevent storage limits from exceeding.
  • Exporting the archived mailbox to PST ensures that emails are saved when an employee leaves the organisation.

How to Export Office 365 Archive Mailbox to PST?

In Office 365, an archive mailbox is exported to PST by using three strategies. Two of them are manually done, while the other one is by using a tool recommended by experts. Choose the method that best suits your requirements.

Export Office 365 Archive Mailboxes to PST by Using Outlook

It is a simple and easy to do method to export your emails. Also, it is best suited for personal use and when handling only the number of exports.

Following are the steps to export archive mailbox to PST using this approach:

  1. Open MS Outlook and go to File.
  2. Choose Open & Export > Import/Export.
  3. The Import Export Wizard opens up. Select Export to a file and click on Next.
  4. Now, select the Office 365 Archive Mailbox folder and press Next.
  5. Provide a destination path to save your resultant file.
  6. Finally, click Finish.

Limitations: Outlook has file restrictions for a PST file. Therefore, we cannot export large-sized emails to PST. In addition to this, one cannot export multiple emails at once.

Export Archive Mailbox to PST from Office 365 by Using eDiscovery

This method is a cost-effective and reliable way when moving an archived mailbox to PST. It is also used to bulk import emails.

Now, follow the step-by-step instructions given below:

  1. Sign in to your Microsoft 365 Office account.
  2. Now, go to Microsoft 365 Admin Centre > Security & Compliance.
  3. After that, go to Permissions > Email & Collaboration Roles > Roles > eDiscovery manager role.
  4. Navigate to Edit role group > eDiscovery Administrator > Edit. Add your account to it.
  5. Again, go back to Security & Compliance > More Resources.
  6. In Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal, navigate to Content Search > + New Search.
  7. Provide name, description, locations, conditions. Once you choose all the filters and conditions as per your needs, press Submit > Done.
  8. Once you get to see the search result, click on it and choose Actions > Export results. Choose one of the Output options and click Export.
  9. As soon as the export process gets completed, click Download results > Copy to Clipboard. Now, provide the export key that you have saved to clipboard.
  10. Next, select the destination folder and click on Start.

Limitations: This needs a good technical understanding to set up the eDiscovery manager role and permissions. It is a time-consuming process when exporting a large-sized file.

An Expert Tool to Export Office 365 Archive Mailbox to PST

The Export Office 365 to PST Tool simplifies email migration by not only exporting the archived mailbox, but also public folders into PST. The user can backup, restore, or migrate the data into multiple file formats and email clients. Some of its core functionalities are duplicate email removal, PST splitting, impersonation rights, and automated CSV export.

Following are the steps to export archive O365 mailbox to PST using this approach:

  1. Download and install Export Office 365 to PST tool.
  2. Press Backup > Continue.
  3. Now, login with your Office 365 account credentials.
  4. Choose Online Archive. Select Mailbox from the mail list and click Next.
  5. After that, check the desired folders from the tree-structured hierarchy and click on Next.
  6. Select the saving format as PST and apply any additional features if you want.
  7. Lastly, choose the destination path and press Next > Convert.

Conclusion

The ability to export Office 365 archive mailbox to PST is essential for backup and migration purposes. Through this article, we have explained various methods. The manual methods like Outlook and eDiscovery are slow, and require time and technical expertise. Therefore, to avoid hassle, an expert recommended Export Office 365 to PST tool provides an automated and quick solution. It makes the process faster and secure with its advanced functionalities.

You May Also Read: Import PST to Online Archive Mailbox

Frequently Asked Questions

Q- How do I export archive mailbox to PST from Office 365? 

Ans- You have two options to do it: either manually or by using a dedicated tool. Let’s explore one of the methods:

  1. Open MS Outlook application.
  2. Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
  3. Select Export to a file > Next.
  4. Choose Office 365 Archive Mailbox folder and click Next.
  5. Select a destination path to save your file.
  6. Lastly, click Finish.

If you want a faster solution with advanced features, do consider using Export Office 365 to PST tool to export Office 365 archive mailbox to PST.

Q- Where is the Online Archive stored in Office 365?

Ans- Online Archive in Office 365 is stored in Exchange Online as a separate mailbox. It is placed on the user’s mailbox, the same as Inbox, Sent items, Outbox, etc. One cannot delete this folder from their mailbox.

About The Author:

Rohit Singh is an Email Backup, Recovery & Migration Consultant and is associated with Software Company from the last 3 years. He writes technical updates and their features related to MS Outlook, Exchange Server, Office 365, and many other Email Clients & Servers.

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